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WASHINGTON – A diverse group of businesses and economic development organizations today launched “Our Energy Moment,” a new coalition dedicated to raising awareness and celebrating the many benefits of expanded markets for liquefied natural gas (LNG). To mark its national launch, the new coalition will partner with POLITICO in hosting an event tomorrow titled “Energy & the 113th Congress,” which will bring together members of Congress, thought leaders, key stakeholders and other energy and business leaders for an in-depth look at the landscape for energy policy in 2014.

“Today, we can truly say America is in the midst of an energy transformation. Once a major importer of energy, the U.S. is now poised to become a net producer of natural gas,” said Dr. Charles Ebinger, a leading energy expert and Our Energy Moment supporter. “Our Energy Moment is being launched to raise awareness of the historic opportunity for the U.S. to assert global energy leadership, strengthen its economy and create American jobs by expanding domestic and international markets for U.S. natural gas.”

“Expanded markets for LNG represent an incredible opportunity for the U.S. to create jobs and spur economic growth right here at home,” said U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.), a senior member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “Our plentiful natural gas reserves are a game-changer for our economic and energy security, and a clear economic win for America and for my home state of Louisiana. This definitely is our energy moment – all we have to do is seize the opportunity.”

In his State of the Union address last week, President Barack Obama highlighted the key role natural gas plays in job creation and in America’s transition to energy independence, saying “today, America is closer to energy independence than we’ve been in decades. One of the reasons why is natural gas.” The President told America during his address that “one of the biggest factors in bringing more jobs back is our commitment to American energy.”

Over the past decade, pioneering exploration and extraction technologies have opened such vast natural gas resources to development that the United States is now the world’s leading producer of natural gas, according to the Energy Information Agency. This technological revolution has produced an unprecedented opportunity for the United States to become a global energy leader by expanding markets for its natural gas.

LNG exports are expected to generate as much as $47 billion in net benefits to the U.S. economy and create up to 450,000 new jobs. Exports will help to expand markets for our competitive natural gas industry, which is on track to create more than 2.4 million American jobs by 2035, LNG exports will help reduce the U.S. trade deficit by as much as $27 billion, and will strengthen America’s energy security by supporting U.S. allies around the globe and reducing their reliance on natural gas from countries like Iran and Russia. Equally important, independent studies from Deloitte and others confirm that exports will have little impact on domestic prices, owing to vast supplies now recoverable at low cost through modern technologies.

A 2010 report by MIT’s Energy Initiative “The Future of Natural Gas” found that “a global ‘liquid’ natural gas market is beneficial to U.S. and global interests and, at the same time, advances security interests through diversity of supply and resilience to disruption. The U.S. should pursue policies that encourage the development of such a market, integrate energy issues fully into the conduct of U.S. foreign policy, and promote sharing of know-how for strategic global expansion of unconventional gas production.”

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For more information on the Our Energy Moment/POLITICO “Energy & the 113th Congress” event on Feb. 6 visit: http://www.politico.com/events/energy-the-113th-congress/.

Watch the full event LIVE here: http://www.politico.com/livestream.

To learn more about Our Energy Moment: http://www.ourenergymoment.org/. You can also follow OEM on Twitter (@OurEnergyMoment) and Facebook by liking the Our Energy Moment page.